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• History of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet Union, Communist influence
• Map of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism in Europe (1922-75)
• History of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions & ethnic groups in Russia

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional costumes/dress
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Spain & El Cid
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Mussolini vs. Libyan Islamic fighters
• Qadafi: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Inside Albania, Europe's only Muslim culture (with rare pictures)
• History of Jihad in Chechnya
& Caucasus vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Russia
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• History of Italy: from Roman rule to Germanic barbarian
• The cost & bloodshed of the Serb-Albanian conflict in Kosovo
• Inside Bulgaria, 1st Slavic nation,
land of Thracian masters of gold
• Visual history of Yugoslavia
• Inside Muslim Turkey: right for the European Union? 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

Visual History of Yugoslavia (1918-2006)
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

Print this Article    •    About the Author    •    Bibliography/Sources

Below is a brief walkthrough of the history of Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in Slavic languages) from its roots as the post-WWI Kingdom of Jugoslavija, to the division of the Jugoslavs over support for Fascism or socialism, to the foundations of a dictatorial socialist power after World War II, until the total decay and collapse under the Serbian regime of Milosevic. It is accompanied with simplified and exclusive EHL maps to aid in understanding. For the exclusive complete ethnocultural and historical EHL guide to the historical relations of the Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians from 1000-2007, and how this contributed to the formation of ethnically-based Jugoslavija, read this Library essay.

Kingdom of Jugoslavija, political division during World War II, & the People's Republic of Jugoslavija:

In the 15th century, the awesome Jihad of the Ottoman Turks plunged the blade of Islam into the heart of the Balkans, conquering Albania, what is now Greece, Slavic Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and had pushed Hungary and Croatia to their knees. This rule -- along with its often forced mass conversion and compulsory conscription in Istanbul's Janissary elite -- continued for nearly 400 years. To save the Slavic and Hungarian Christians from the Jihad, the massive German empire of Habsburg Austria annexed Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. Serbia freed itself on its own from Islamic conquest after two brutal wars with German and Hungarian support. These South Slavs (Bosnians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonian Serbs) united under common ethnic and cultural nationalism under the increasingly socially-unstable Austrian Empire. In 1918, with the closure of the war, the Treaty of Trianon forced Austria's and Hungary's forfeiture of nearly all of their land. Czechia and Slovakia (later merged as Czechoslovakia), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Hungary became independent, and Serbia retained its independence throughout the war. These South Slavs quickly rallied under the banner of their common Slavic racial and cultural heritage behind the Serbian kingdom led by King Piotr I; in 1918, the Kingdom of Jugoslavija was announced after its name changed from the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, & Slovenes" comprising Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbian Macedonia and Kosovo -- all centered at Serbia. This was not a socialist state, but rather a monarchical dictatorship. Again, to learn the exclusive complete historical and cultural relation between these Slavic Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats from 900 until today, read the other article.

In World War II, Jugoslavija was conquered by Axis Hungary, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria. The broken kingdom became split between the political worldviews of Fascist National Socialism and socialism or Communism. The destroyed kingdom was now a warground between socialist rebels like Marshall Broz "Tito" and Fascist sympathizers. Most Croats welcomed the Fascist invasion as a solution to Communist overthrow; Croatia became an ally of the Third Reich under the government of Ante Pavelic. Tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims (having converted as a generally-forced result of the Turkish Jihad) joined the Nazi SS elite (Schutzstaffel) due to mutual opposition of Jews, Communists, and Allied liberalism and atheism. The radical Islamist muftiy cleric of al-Quds (Jerusalem) offered support for the Axis and the Bosnian Muslim SS in their war against so-called "world Jewry" of the Allies, as he foresaw the coming creation of a Jewish state in previously-Arab Palestine. By the end of World War II, when it became apparent that liberalism of the West and Communism of the East would triumph, most Croats and Jugoslavs switched to support for a socialist ideal with support of the Soviet invaders. Under the banner of socialism, the Federal People's Republic of Jugoslavija was declared in 1944 when the Germans were withdrawing to fight the invading Americans and Soviets on both fronts. This was a socialist dictatorship centered in Serbia but with relative autonomy for each of its constituent republics: Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. This socialist state thrived as a relatively peaceful state free of the Soviet Union's endless wars. Tito became a national hero despite being a dictator, as remains today. Tito set aside political disputes between Serbs and Croats, etc., and treated the South Slavs with relative equality via cultural and ethnic ultranationalism (unlike Milosevic, which caused the nation's downfall), but was far from the equality of the West: Albanian Muslims, Gypsies, and many Jews were treated as anti-social opponents to the states and either killed, expelled, or disenfranchised; Jugoslavija was a socialist Slavic dictatorial state only.

Jugoslavija as a socialist state under Tito in 1944. The monarchy of 1918-1941 had the same borders.

Wars of Independence/Breakup following Tito's death:

Near the death of the charismatic leader Tito, broad corruption, overspending, and infrastructural and economic decline became disastrous. As the Jugoslav government was centered at Serbia, "equal" constituent republic Slavic peoples affixed more and more blame to the self-interested and corrupt Serbs. Tito's death in 1980 exploited the hardships between these Slavic peoples. Jugoslavija was on the verge of collapse. To alleviate the economic hardship and to prevent internal schism, Serbia embraced a militant and expansionist policy, bolstering its strength via force and centralized Serb control. This had the opposite effect: constituent republic Slavic peoples saw this as Serbs taking more control than before for their own already-corrupt self-interest. As Serbia declined, other states therein also considered themselves drained by Serb economic decline, especially the coastal states of Croatia and Montenegro, who were often forced to send their exclusive port supplies and trade goods to the corrupt Serb elite to the east. In 1997, Slobodan Milosevic ascended to power as the president of Jugoslavija, but instead of embracing union and stability, focused on continued Serb centralization to alleviate internal dispute. One of the biggest problems was the problematic Albanian Muslim minority in Kosovo and throughout the empire, who frequently fought for statehood (independence) via Jihad and terrorism especially under the Kosovo Liberation Army. The Albanian population, which forms the majority in Kosovo and roughly 33% of Macedonia as well, have spent the last several decades fighting to liberate Kosovo from Serbian Christian rule, using the disintegration of the Yugoslavian nation as a chance to strike. Some seek independence via protest, others terrorism, others Islamic Jihad. Both the Serbs and the Albanians are guilty of horrific massacres, burning of the other culture's religious sites (Serbs burning mosques, Albanians burning churches), though the Serbs are the only group receiving blame in the West for the most part, whilst the United States supports the Albanians and has protected them since the Clinton administration's assaults.

In 1999, the decline had become too apparent. The Ten-Day War for Slovene independence saw a short but bloody war by the Serbs to reinforce their political right to prevent internal schism by "traitors". Croatia followed suit in the Croatian War of Independence, a horrific and bloody war in which thousands on both sides were killed, slaughtered, and displaced, leading to American claims of war crimes on both sides (despite this, Croat "war criminals" are today treated generally as cultural heroes). The war raged from 1991-1995. Bosnia followed suit in 1992 for its independence war, leading to a great deal of violence for both parties, especially due to Jugoslavs' hatred for the Bosnian Muslim minority that converted as a result of the Ottoman occupation. In 1992, the new state of Macedonia broke from Serbia (though it was politically a separate state) for the first time with almost no violent resistance due to its uselessness. The eastern half of Bosnia-Herzegovina today is Serbian-populated. During the wars for independence, the eastern half of Bosnia refused to break from Serbia, and viewed their fellow countrymen of Bosnia as traitors, leading to brutal cultural warfare between Slavs in the region, leaving hundreds of thousands dead with ranging sources. Muslims were especially a target because it was perceived that they as Muslim Bosniak Slavs (as opposed to Bosnian Christian Slavs) were not truly Slavic or Yugoslavian, and were weakening the state that Tito built with their separatism. Serbia was now implicated in genocide in Croatia and Bosnia. Many Muslims across the world are angered by what appears as a systematic slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia. Indeed, the natural Serb effort to suppress an internal revolt was coupled with persecution of Muslim minorities, resulting in a double blow to the region. This conflict, all initiated by what was perceived as Serbian self-interested hegemony, has kept tensions between these related peoples strong despite a thousand years of mutual heritage and history.

Today, the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina is divided tensely in three: the east, known as Republika Srpska (Republic of Serbia) is Serbian Christian, the southwest is Catholic Croatian, and the remainder is divided into a blend of all three groups, including Bosnian Christians and Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks). The division in Bosnia today is evident in the fact that Republika Srpska even prints its own money. Officially, the national Muslim population of Bosnia is noted at roughly 40%, but the percentage of Islam in comparison with the entire population is offset by the large Serbian and Croatian population, thus setting the percentage of Islam among Bosnians higher than 40%. Bosnia's and Albania's Islam is less conservative than Turkey's Islam or other forms.

A cultural map of Bosnia. The difficult division of cultural and religious groups in today's Bosnia is clearly a result of the difficult internal Yugoslav wars.

By 1992 Jugoslavija was no more than de facto Serbia-Montenegro, though this would not be entirely apparent and recognized by the Serbs until 1995 or even later. The Muslim revolt of the Albanian minority in Serbia's Kosovo region -- as well as claims of war crimes in the revolting regions of Croatia and Bosnia -- caused the US to bomb Serbia for several weeks under the guise of NATO and UN peacekeeping action. The destruction of the Serbian army and airforce by American bombings exacerbated and ensured Yugoslavia's collapse, though a downward spiral was evident beforehand. Following the bombing, in which not a single American soldier was killed and hundreds or even thousands of Serbian civilians are often claimed to have been slain, the United States administered Kosovo as a UN-governed province. The overwhelming expenses and casualties endured by Serbia, US and NATO bombing, corruption, and total bankruptcy caused a new Serb (Jugoslav) regime to be elected by the end of 1999, when Milosevic was turned over to the US (NATO) for trial in the International Criminal Court for alleged (and reportedly true) slaughter of Croatian, Bosnian, and Albanian [rebelling] civilians during the many wars the Balkans have suffered from 1991-2000. As it quickly became apparent that the concept of "Jugoslavija" was entirely meaningless as it referred now to no more than Serbia and Montenegro, a new name was adopted for the personal union of the two as "Serbia & Montenegro". Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia, and Macedonia were now all independent states.

In 2006, further, Montenegro of post-Jugoslav Serbia-Montenegro resolved its political weakness in Serb politics (due to its tiny comparative size) by declaring independence, effecting the schism between Serbia and Montenegro; Jugoslavija had ended for good.

Kosovo's Muslim Albanian independence wars:

Albanians are the only Muslim culture in Europe, occupying Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo. The region, never a nation, was divided by two Christian hill tribes -- the Tosk and Gheg -- who unified as Christians under Albanian national hero Gjergj Skanderbeg to resist the Islamic Jihad of the Ottoman Turkish empire. They failed, and after 400 years of strict occupation, the Albanians are today the only Muslim culture in Europe, though Bosnians are roughly 40% Muslim today. Despite the Serbian clash with Albanians and their mutual hatred, it was the Serbs who have ruled Kosovo as an integral part of their history and heritage for nearly 1000 years, and was even liberated from the Ottomans along with Albania itself by the Serbs and other Slavic Christian states in the Balkan Wars before World War I. Kosovo remained a part of Serbia ever since, later part of Serbia's Yugoslav state, and remained as such until it was seized by the United States via the UN and was later given independence with global dispute and always without the approval of Serbia. Albania, with a very distinct history in comparison with Kosovo, is less religiously conservative in its Islam because of a brutal introvert history of Communism and atheism under national hero Enver Hoxha (Hod-ja). Read my Inside Albania article for a rare inside look at Albania, the hermit state of Europe. In Kosovo, they have remained the majority for centuries (see the History of Kosovo on the EHL), and quickly began to exploit the Serbian and Yugoslavian collapse via terrorism and often Islamic Jihad, causing the misery, collapse, and hardship of the Yugoslav collapse to worsen dramatically. Albanian Muslims are considered a very negative and often hated burden in much of Europe, especially Greece and Germany and Italy where they popularly emigrate. The American and Western claims of ethnic cleansing of Albanians by Serbs and other Slavs unfairly ignores the brutal violence, terrorism, and Jihad that the Albanians in Kosovo performed to secure their independence. Both sides are guilty of brutal violence, religious persecution, and murder (see 2004: a bloody year in the Kosovo conflict).

Having been seized from Serbia/Yugoslavia by 1999, the region, now protected by the United States, operated independently with almost no say to the nation from which it was stolen. Independence calls continued, though failed to materialize because of the tenuious political implications of such an act of forced succession. Some (like the US) argued that Kosovo needed to be free in order to repair the horrors of Serbian genocide, despite the fact that Kosovars did the same to the Serbs. Others argued that the non-Serb, non-Christian population had a right to represent its own affairs. Some Muslims argued that a Muslim, independent nation should be established at any cost. Other Albanian nationalists wanted to re-establish a pan-Albanian nation, championing the largely ahistorical myth of an Illyrian/Epir Roman-era origin. There were disputes also in the size of this nation to be carved out of another country's sovereign land. Albanians demanded "Greater Albania" stretching from the border of Greece to central Serbia. America only supported the claim to a small portion thereof (see the maps below). In 2008, Kosovo formally declared independence. Much of the world completely ignored or refused such an act, but the United States, which occupies the region, ensured its effect. The status of Kosovo will continue to be difficult, especially for Serbs who refuse to simply give up nearly 30% of their national land as well as an integral part of their vivid Slavic Serbian national heritage. See the maps below.

The EHL map of the often-sought "Greater Kosovo" and "Greater Albania". This is the maximum extent of Albanian Muslim claims to sovereignty, though they have only acquired a small portion thereof (see below). Albanians also claim parts of Macedonia.

The EHL map boundaries of the new nation of Kosovo as it is recognized by the United States and European Union.

________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is the owner and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures, ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical evolution in relation to and against each other.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

When known, the original owners of the images are written under the images used.